The Gatekeeper's Sons Page 27

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: Persistent Pete

  Saturday morning, after taking hot coffee to the officer stationed on their back deck, Carol drove Therese the half mile down the road to Jen’s house, and, as usual, Clifford went, too. As Therese stood on the gravel drive waving goodbye to her aunt, she noticed Than and Pete walking toward her across the grassy field in their jeans and boots with water glistening down their bare chests and their wet hair clinging to their heads. They were talking to one another and laughing. Therese watched them in awe, thinking to herself that life could really suck, but it could be really sweet, too.

  Clifford ran across the road to greet the two boys, and that’s when they looked up and spotted her.

  Pete jogged across the road and gave her a wet hug. “Cold, huh? Wake you up, sleepy head!”

  Therese bit her lip. Cupid’s arrow seemed to be working. “Thanks a lot, Pete. You just wait.”

  He laughed and walked on to the pen.

  Than came up with a dubious smile. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” She could feel her entire face transform into a huge grin. He just had that effect on her.

  Before she could say anything more, Jen screamed twice from behind the house, and Clifford took off toward her. With lightning speed, Than ran past Therese. By the time Therese caught up to them, Pete was there, too, and Jen was screaming, “Kill it! Kill it!”

  Clifford barked ferociously.

  On the ground several feet away from them lay a brownish snake with a yellow stripe down its back and white stripes down its sides. It was about three feet long, thin, stretched rather than coiled, and very still.

  “I think it’s already dead,” Pete said. “Calm down, sis. It’s just a garter snake. It’s not poisonous.”

  “I don’t care!” Jen shrieked. “Kill it! It’s gross! It scared the crap out of me!”

  Pete grabbed a shovel from the nearby shed.

  “Wait!” Therese said. “Don’t kill it if it’s not poisonous.” She went up to the snake and touched it. Although it barely moved, it was still alive. “It’s hurt.” She stroked its back. “Clifford, stop. It’s okay.”

  Clifford stopped barking and watched her anxiously. She could feel Clifford’s anxiety as he paced and whined.

  “It’s okay, boy,” Therese said again.

  “What are you doing?” Jen objected. “Quit touching it!”

  Therese picked up the snake gingerly with both hands. She was afraid she might further injure it if she didn’t handle it carefully. “If we leave it here, it will die. It needs food and protection from predators.”

  Jen looked furious. “Therese, we don’t save snakes. We kill them. Remember what happened to Dumbo?”

  “Yes, I remember!” Therese snapped. “How can you say that?” She held back the desire to push Jen down to the ground, and she clenched her jaw in anger. She already felt burdened with guilt over what happened to the horse. How could her friend say such a thing?

  “Now girls,” Pete said.

  “Me? How can you want to save that, that thing?” Jen shouted.

  “Jen, it can’t help what it is,” Therese said. “And it’s not hurting anyone now.”

  “So what are you going to do with it?” Pete asked.

  “Do you have a box I can have?”

  “I’m sure I can find one somewhere around here. For now, you can put the snake in the bed of my truck.”

  “Maybe we could put a wet towel down.” Therese walked with Pete toward the garage where his truck was parked next to Jen’s and the Suburban. “And maybe we could leave the garage door open?”

  “Sure.” Pete walked close beside her.

  “I don’t believe this!” Jen complained. “It’s a damn snake!”

  “Language,” Mrs. Holt said coming out of the house.

  “But, Mom. This is crazy. Therese is saving a slimy ol’ snake. I wanted Pete to kill it.”

  “I wanna see,” Bobby chirped.

  Therese couldn’t hear them anymore once she was inside the garage with Pete.

  “I’ll run inside and get a wet towel,” Pete said.

  When he returned with the towel, he spread it out on the bed and then helped her to lift the snake onto it. The truck and garage were hot, which was good for the snake. It wouldn’t get too cold on the wet towel. Therese stroked the snake several times while saying, “Thanks, Pete. Thanks for your help.”

  He moved closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, and the close proximity of his bare chest made her shiver. He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know anyone like you, Therese Mills.”

  Just then Bobby burst in. “Where’s the snake?”

  “I’ll go get a box,” Pete mumbled.

  Later, when they were grooming the horses, Than seemed distant. Therese was still angry at Jen for the Dumbo comment, and so she looked to the horse to soothe and comfort her as she brushed. “You’re such a sweet thing,” she cooed to Sugar. “Does that feel good?” Therese looked into the horse’s eye and stroked her cheek. “You’re so easy. Always so clean.”

  “And lazy,” Bobby added.

  Therese was grateful for Bobby, because he was the only one who seemed oblivious to the tension between the humans in the pen. If he had known how angry the two girls were at one another, he wouldn’t have kept on talking in the otherwise silent company.

  “Therese, did Jen tell you she and Matthew are going on a date tonight, just the two of them?” Bobby asked.

  Therese shook her head.

  “They’re going to see a movie,” he said. “But I doubt they’ll be watching it.”

  “Shut up, Bobby,” Jen said.

  “Well, excuse me.”

  Therese finished Sugar and asked, “Who now, Mrs. Holt?”

  “Why don’t you take Annie?”

  “I’m doing Annie,” Jen griped.

  “Chestnut, then,” Mrs. Holt said.

  Than walked Therese home with Clifford ambling behind as the trail riders showed up. Therese was supposed to call her aunt for a ride, but she felt safe with Than and wanted to be with him as much as she could. Her aunt would be cross, but she’d get over it. Therese carried the garter snake in a medium-sized cardboard box with the wet towel Pete got for her. Than still seemed distant. Maybe he thought she was stupid for wanting to save the snake. Maybe the enchantment was wearing off.

  Unable to bear the silence for another second, she asked, “Do you think I’m crazy?”

  He stopped in the road and turned to face her, his dark brown hair full of golden highlights from the sun. “What? Why would I think that?”

  She kept walking, so he followed alongside her. “You know. The snake thing.”

  Hi voice was husky. “No. I don’t think you’re crazy.”

  “Then what’s wrong? You’re so quiet.”

  He let out a deep breath. “I’m having…doubts.”

  Her throat tightened. “Oh.” Her heart beat so hard that she could hear it in her ears. She knew his attention had been too good to be true. She should have known it couldn’t last. Tears pricked her eyes.

  Maybe he had been in love with love, and she just happened to be the first girl to come along. Maybe now that he had spent some time on Earth, he realized he should put more thought into such an important decision. Maybe he concluded that Therese wasn’t right for him after all.

  By the time they approached her gravelly drive, tears were streaming down her cheeks, and because she was carrying the box, there was nothing she could do to hide them. She tried wiping her cheeks on her shoulders, but she couldn’t quite reach. She couldn’t look at him. She was so embarrassed and full of despair that she just wanted to get to her room where she could cry in peace.

  “Thanks for walking me home.” She turned away from him and practically ran to the house.

  Once inside, she went past Carol to the stairs. “I’m tired. I’m going to lie down for a while.”

  “You walked home?”

  “Than was with me.�
�

  “Therese, please don’t take chances like that. Does Than carry a gun? Is he a police officer? He’s just another kid. You have to take this seriously. Understand? If the lieutenant thinks we’re in enough danger to post a guard here, you shouldn’t be walking!”

  “I’m sorry.” She really was sorry. If she had called her aunt, she might have avoided hearing about Than’s doubts.

  Then Carol added, “Pete just called. He wants you to call him back.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “What’s in the box?”

  “It’s a snake. It’s not poisonous. It’s hurt.”

  “Are you crying?”

  “No. I’m fine. I just need to be alone.”

  She expected Carol to say something more but was relieved when she didn’t. She went upstairs to her room, put the box on the desk next to Jewel’s tank, and let the tears come raining down.

  How could he have doubts?

  Before she could kick off her shoes, the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh, good. You’re home.” It was Pete.

  Disappointment flooded through her. She had hoped it was Than calling to apologize, to explain why he had been so quiet, to tell her he wanted to be with her forever. “Hi. What’s up?”

  “I talked Jen into letting us tag along with her and Matthew tonight, to the movies. Sound good?”

  “Um, I don’t know.” Was he asking her out, or was this a group thing? And should she encourage him if Cupid’s arrow was really at work? On the other hand, if Than had changed his mind about her, maybe Pete could be a helpful diversion from the horrible pain in her heart.

  Pete added, “Don’t be mad at Jen. She was just freaked out. She’s terrified of snakes and thinks that garter will eventually find its way back here when you let it go.”

  “If it lives. I’m not so sure it’ll make it.” Then she said, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be on the trail ride?”

  “Bobby went. I have the next one. So, do you wanna go tonight?”

  Should she? What else was she going to do now that Than was dumping her? Mope around all night? She knew if she didn’t do something to distract her she’d sink down into that deep dark place she inhabited in the few weeks after…her life had changed. “That sounds good. Let me check with my aunt and I’ll call you back.”

  After she hung up the phone, she collapsed on her bed and sobbed some more. Clifford jumped up next to her and licked her face.

  “Thanks, boy,” she said, her voice breaking up with weeping.

  “Why are you crying?” came a woman’s voice which Therese did not recognize.

  Therese froze. Clifford stopped licking, but didn’t bark. Slowly, she turned to see an amazingly majestic woman with glowing pale skin and long black hair standing in the room across from her. She wore a white short gown, golden boots, and a golden helmet. Beneath the helmet, her amazing blue-gray eyes stared directly at Therese.

  “Who are you?” Therese gasped, wondering if she should get down on her knees.

  The woman smiled. “I will answer your question if you answer mine. Why are you crying?”

  Therese decided to be perfectly honest. “Um. For one thing, both my parents recently died.”

  “Go on.”

  “Then a horse I was riding was injured and had to be…put down.”

  “Yes?”

  “And now a boy I thought really liked me has changed his mind.”

  “I see.” The woman took off her helmet. “And now I will answer your question. My name is Pallas Athena. I am the daughter of Zeus. He is my one and only beloved parent, and, presently, he is upset, like you. But his tears become showers and his rage thunderbolts.”

  Therese could barely breathe. She didn’t move. “Is he upset because of me?” she asked in a small voice.

  Athena narrowed her eyes. “Do you think so highly of yourself that you could be the cause of his sorrow, his rage?”

  Therese covered her mouth and shook her head. When she could, she said, “No, m’am. Hermes said…”

  “Hermes has spoken to you?” Athena hissed.

  Therese wished she could disappear. “He didn’t seek me out. We, we met by accident.” In a desperate voice, she added, “Look, if you want to kill me, please just go ahead.” Then she put her arms around Clifford and thought better of it. Who would care for her pets?

  “I didn’t come to kill you, but to test you.” Athena’s voice was no longer harsh. “I came disguised as a serpent, and you took pity on me when others wished me dead. I see you have a kind and compassionate heart, and you are worth saving. Unlike Ares and Poseidon who stand with McAdams, and Aphrodite and Apollo who stand with Thanatos, I, like Artemis, stand with you. However, both of us wish you to reconsider your desire to become the wife of Thanatos. He is a good and kind and noble god, but his ghastly life is not the kind of life for someone like you who loves all living things. Furthermore, to marry a god carries many risks, as the males are usually unfaithful. When my brother Apollo wished to marry a maiden named Daphne, she would rather be changed into a laurel and spend eternity as a tree because she feared the warring among jealous female divinities. Think before you act.”

  Therese at first was stunned, her eyes wide. Daphne would rather be a tree? Forever? She swallowed and cleared her throat and picked at her sleeve. “Thank you, Pallas Athena. I don’t know what to say, except that I don’t think it’s an issue anymore, my going with Thanatos. He’s, he’s changed his mind.”

  “Good. That is as it should be.” And with that, Pallas Athena vanished.

  Therese sat still and bewildered for several minutes after the goddess left. When the shock of the visit finally wore off, she checked in the cardboard box to be sure the snake wasn’t still there and the entire event a bizarre hallucination. But the snake was gone, and in its place was a golden heart-shaped locket. She reached into the box and took it in her hand. The locket was secured to a delicate gold chain. She opened the locket. Inside, she found an inscription in slanting, flowing letters that read: “The most common way people give up their power is by believing they have none.”

  Therese closed the locket and clutched it to her heart. She opened the locket and read the inscription again. Why had Athena given her this message?

  Therese put the locket on her dresser and went to her bathroom to take a hot shower. The water running down her tense body calmed her after the strange events of the day. Although the gift from Athena made her happy, the overall disappointment she felt from Than’s behavior today was like a suffocating blanket that could not be lifted away nor washed off with the heat of this shower. Once more, tears streamed down her face. She wondered how a person could never run out of tears.

  Afterward she changed into a t-shirt and cotton shorts and, with her hair still wet, climbed beneath her covers to take a nap. Clifford followed her and curled up near her hip. The lack of sleep during Hermes’s visit had caught up with her, so despite the despair, the dread, and the awe, once she closed her eyes, it wasn’t long before she fell asleep.

  Now she was in the Melner cabin looking for the restroom. “Restroom?” she asked Hermes.

  He pointed to a toilet in the middle of the living room.

  From where they sat around her on the living room furniture, Meg sneered and Tizzie shrugged.

  “Go ahead,” Than said from behind.

  Therese’s bladder was about to burst, so, very quickly, she crossed the room to the toilet, but with all the eyes on her, she could not bring herself to pull down her jeans and go.

  “Never mind,” she said. “I’m late for school.”

  She grabbed her backpack, sitting by the front door, and ran out to the dirt road just as the school bus drove by toward the dam.

  “No!” she shouted from the middle of the road after it had gone right past her.

  Then she heard another bus coming and saw its dim headlights emerging from the Holt place, so she waved her hands to flag it down, but it sped pas
t without noticing her.

  She bit her lip, and her teeth moved, like they were loose. She touched a front tooth with her finger, and the tooth fell out. Then she smiled. “This must be a dream.”

  She put the tooth back in place, ditched the backpack, and sailed through the air.

  “Yep. It’s a dream. I can do whatever I want.”

  She flew back to the Melner cabin and went up to Than. She was furious with him but feeling desperate. He had been the medicine that would help her get over losing her parents. If he abandoned her now, she would be left with nothing but her grief. She couldn’t take that.

  “I’m going to make you change your mind,” she promised him. “I’m going to make you love me again.” She took his face in her hands and planted a passionate kiss on his lips right there in front of Meg, Tizzie, and Hermes.

  “Figments, show yourselves!” a voice came from behind her.

  Than, his sisters, and Hermes vanished, and in their place were four scaly eels, whirring through the air and giggling. They flew out of the windows and the open front door.

  Therese turned to see Hip standing behind her. He was tall and well-built like his brother, but his hair was blond and his blue eyes deeper set. He wore white trousers and a white open shirt.

  “You still owe me a kiss,” he said. “A real kiss. That last one didn’t count.”

  She frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be guiding the dead?”

  “My brother returned to give me a brief reprieve. Zeus would have eventually commanded it.” He took a few steps closer to her. “My kiss? For the tour? Remember?”

  “Oh yeah.” She closed her eyes and puckered her lips. When he didn’t kiss her, she opened her eyes to find him sulking. “What’s wrong?”

  “That’s not how you kissed that figment you thought was my brother. I want you to kiss me like you kissed it.”

  Her eyes widened. Then she narrowed them. “That wasn’t part of the deal. You said a kiss. You didn’t say what kind.” She sighed. “Besides, I don’t think I have it in me to kiss anyone right now with your brother no longer in love with me and then there’s Pete forced by Cupid’s arrow to love me against his will.”

  “What? Gods can’t force people to do anything. Humans have free will—while they’re alive, anyway. Cupid’s arrow can only enhance and make compelling a feeling that was already there.”

  “Really?” This cheered her, to know that Pete had already felt something for her before the gods interfered, that he wasn’t being forced against his will to like her.

  “Now can I have my kiss?”

  She was a little uplifted by this news, so she put her arms around him and planted a grateful, albeit not passionate, kiss on his mouth.

  “That’s better.” He grinned.

  “Will you answer one more question?” She gave him a flirtatious smile.

  “You know the fee.” He put his face close to hers.

  “Why did Than change his mind about me?”

  Hip’s smile turned into a scowl. “How am I supposed to know? Can’t you ask me a question I can answer?”

  “Okay, okay. Calm down. Maybe you can answer this: When will Than return to Earth?”

  “Tomorrow. Though why should you care if he’s changed his mind? Forget him, Therese. You can have me.” He held his arms, spread wide, palms up, with a sweet but devilish grin.

  “Like I said, I have a feeling you’re not a one-girl kind of guy.”

  He threw back his head with a loud guffaw. “You know me too well. Now give me my kiss.”

  As she leaned in to meet his lips, she heard a loud crash and snapped awake. She sat up in her bed and looked around. She was alone with her pets. It was thundering and raining outside. Was the storm caused by Zeus’s rage and sorrow?

  She looked at her clock. Six o’clock! She had slept for six hours? She still hadn’t called back Pete. She ran downstairs to get permission from Carol to go to the movies, and then returned upstairs to call the Holts.

  “Sorry about earlier,” Jen said on the phone.

  “Me, too.”

  It was still thundering and pouring down rain when Pete and Jen drove up the drive in Pete’s truck to pick her up. She huddled beneath the umbrella feeling her curly hair get frizzier with each step she took toward the vehicle. She was glad she had decided to wear it pulled back at the nape of her neck in a wide, thick barrette. At least the frizzies would stay out of her face.

  Pete opened the passenger side for her and helped her in the front seat. Jen sat in back. So maybe this was a date after all.

  “Where’s Bobby?” Therese asked as she fastened her seat belt.

  “He spent all his money on a new gaming station,” Jen said. “Plus, I didn’t really want him to come. He’s so immature.”

  “Is Matthew meeting us there?”

  “We’re picking him up,” Pete said. “That’s why Jen’s sitting in back. She doesn’t want you anywhere near him.”

  “Shut up, Pete,” Jen punched his arm.

  “Yeah, right,” Therese said. “Like she’s got anything to worry about.”

  “How’s the snake?” Pete asked.

  Therese thought fast. “Good. I’m going to find it a home. There’s a snake farm in Pagosa Springs.”

  “Good idea,” Jen said. Then she leaned forward. “Hey, is that a new necklace?”

  Therese fingered the locket at her throat. “Um, yeah. Sort of. Well, it was my mom’s.” Like she could really tell them a goddess named Pallas Athena transformed from a garter snake and gave it to her.

  “Oh.” Jen sat back. “It’s really pretty.”

  Pete glanced at her throat. “It looks nice on you.”

  “Thanks.”

  They were silent now as Pete drove through the winding country roads with the rain beating down on the truck. Therese was glad to be with her friends, but she missed Than and still despaired over his change of heart. She knew she should stop thinking about him altogether, but she couldn’t no matter how hard she tried. She peered across the bench seat at Pete looking as handsome as ever, but even his charm and good looks could not help her forget Than. It was too late. She was in love and feeling rather desperate.

  Guilt flooded over Therese when she recalled she was supposed to be going to the movies with Vicki. She needed to remember to call her tomorrow to make arrangements before her feelings were totally hurt.

  During the movie, Jen and Therese sat beside one another with the boys on either end. She mostly whispered to Jen, but about halfway through the film, Pete put his arm around Therese, and she stiffened. She tried to relax, to remind herself that he was her friend and this could be comfortable, but it felt totally wrong. After several minutes, she excused herself to use the restroom. Jen came with her.

  “What am I going to do about Pete?” Therese asked her when they were at the sink washing their hands. “I think he likes me.”

  “And you don’t like him?” Jen crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, which disappeared behind her straight blonde bangs.

  “I like him a lot. But I think I’m in love with Than.”

  Jen slipped a tube of lipstick from the front pocket of her jeans. “Than’s leaving soon. Long distance relationships suck. You should let it go.” She pressed the lipstick to her lips.

  “And Pete’s going to college. What’s the difference?”

  Jen held the lipstick out to Therese.

  “Thanks.” Now it was her turn to apply the makeup.

  “He’s not going after all. He decided to stay and help mom with the horses and work gigs with his band.”

  “That’s stupid.” Therese handed over the tube and rinsed her hands again.

  “He doesn’t think so. And neither does Mom. She’s glad he’s staying.”

  Therese dried her hands and said nothing.

  “Give Pete a chance,” Jen said in a pleading voice. “Just think. If you two got married one day, we’d be sisters.”

  “This isn’t about us
.”

  One of the stalls on the end burst open, and out walked Gina Rizzo wearing tight jeans, rhinestone boots and matching belt, and big silver earrings. Her blonde hair was twisted up in a clip and spilling down the back of her head. “Hey, guys. What’s this I hear about Pete and Therese? Are you two dating now? I thought that was you I saw in front of me in line. I can’t wait to tell Maddy and Katie.”

  “We’re not dating,” Therese said.

  “Sure you’re not.” She washed her hands at the sink and ripped off a piece of paper toweling. “Later, girls.”

  Apparently it didn’t matter if your parents died. The school bitch would show no mercy.

  After the movie, a lame comedy with a disappointing ending, they stepped out of the theater to find the rain had stopped and the night sky was clear and full of twinkling stars. The air was cool, so Therese zipped the front of her jacket.

  “Cold?” Pete asked. He put an arm around her as he walked her to his truck.

  “Let’s go dancing,” Matthew said from behind. “Want to?”

  “Yeah,” Jen said. “Great idea, Matthew. What do you guys think?”

  “Sounds good to me.” Pete pointed his clicker at the truck to unlock the doors. “Therese?”

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of tired.”

  “But you napped for six hours!” Jen reminded her.

  Therese climbed into the truck. “I know, but I think I might be coming down with something. I don’t feel that great.”

  Pete patted her leg from behind the wheel. “That’s okay, then. Let’s go home. And hey, Mom doesn’t do trail rides on Sunday, so why don’t you sleep in tomorrow? I’ll cover your grooming for you since you’re not feeling well.”

  “Come on, Therese,” Jen said. “Don’t ruin it for the rest of us. You’re just upset about Than.”

  Therese flashed her a fierce look. “Shut up, Jen.”

  Pete’s smile faded as he turned the key in the ignition. “Drop it, Jen.”